Entrepreneur Geek

If you are a startup, you have read 37Signal’s opinions on business, productivity and building software. Here are some inspirational quotes from their latest book Rework. I took these insights from Dharmesh Shah’s onStartups blog. And put them together along with the index of essays in a downloadable PDF. Print this and stick it in a visible place!

I enjoyed reading Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s earlier book – Getting Real too. Of course, what worked for 37Signals (for Basecamp, Campfire, Ta-da list and their other products) may or may not work in your situation. Their advise is still valuable and worth pondering over for any startup / productivity aspirant.

Download the PDF

1. Great businesses have a point of view, not just a product or service.
2. Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things you don’t actually control.
3. Don’t sit around and wait for someone else to make the change you want to see.
4. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is simple today.
5. Failure is not a prerequisite for success.
6. Don’t make assumptions about how big you should be ahead of time.
7. You have the most information when you’re doing something, not before you’ve done it.
8. When you build what you need, you can assess quality directly instead of by proxy.
9. Solving your own problem lets you fall in love with what you’re making.
10. What you do matters, not what you think or say or plan.
11. When you want something bad enough, you make the time.
12. The perfect time to start something never arrives.
13. Start a business, not a startup.
14. You need a commitment strategy, not an exit strategy.
15. Huge organizations talk instead of act, and meet instead of do.
16. Build half a product, not a half-assed product.
17. Getting to greatness starts by cutting out stuff that’s merely good.
18. The real world isn’t a place, it’s an excuse. It’s a justification for not trying.
19. The big picture is all you should be worrying about in the beginning. Ignore the details.
20. It’s the stuff you leave out that matters.
21. Decide. You’re as likely to make a great call today as you are tomorrow.
22. The longer it takes to develop, the less likely it is to launch.
23. Focus on substance, not fashion. Focus on what won’t change.
24. When good enough gets the job done, go for it.
25. When you make tiny decisions, you can’t make big mistakes.
26. Pour yourself into your product.
27. You rarely regret saying no but you often regret saying yes.
28. Instead of out-spending your competitors, out-teach them.
29. Let customers look behind the curtain.
30. Better your customers grow out of your product, than never grow into them.
31. You can’t paint over a bad experience with good marketing.
32. All companies have customers. Fortunate companies have audiences too.
33. Don’t hire for pleasure; hire to kill pain.
34. Leave the poetry in what you make, there is beauty in imperfection.
35. Marketing is not a department, it’s the sum total of everything you do.
36. Don’t make up problems you don’t have yet.
37. A business without a path to profit is a hobby.

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Download printable PDF with best insights from the book here for free!

You can also download the excerpts from here.

If you are coming here after my talk at Prerna – Entrepreneurship Seminar at SFIMAR today, welcome to a budding entrepreneur! What follows is a collection of my best articles on entrepreneurship from last 4 years.

My Best Blogs Posts for Entrepreneurs and Startups

• How to pick a co-founder?
• Are you a ‘scale-first’ or ‘money-first’ entrepreneur?
• Entrepreneur’s Lesson: Be Frugal, Avoid Temptations
• 5 Things That Changed My Life, and Could Change Yours
• Avoid these customers – five warning signs to say no to customers, plus three signs to die for
• 8 Traits To Be Great
• What’s the formula for Genius?
• Apple’s Marketing Secrets
• Life is about personal leadership
• Startup School 2008: Key Takeaways, from OnStartups
• The Art of Speed
• 10 Resolutions to boost your business
• Seven ways to avoid the growth traps
• Personal Brand – steps in creating a powerful personal brand
• Deliver Authentic Leadership – Robin Sharma
• HP’s Rules of Garage

Remember, there is equal risk in jobs and business

You will be concerned about four things when you consider starting on your own:

• Entrepreneurship is too risky
• It takes too much time
• Business requires significant skills and confidence
• (and best of all) Starting your own business needs lot of money

Consider that first three concerns apply to doing a job as well. As for money, it’s really about cashflows – both for individuals and businesses. If you have an urge, don’t wait, start something of your own. You can do it over weekends, you can do it on a small scale, but just do it!

And yes, you don’t need to be the poster boy of entrepreneurs, you don’t need huge successes

Most people talk about dreaming big and huge successes and the glamor around entrepreneurship. The truth is, you don’t need to be hugely successful. What matters is whether you are happier being on your own and making more than what you would have made in a job. You don’t need to grow to be the biggest company. You just need to follow your passion.

Go out, start something!

If you are the guy who uses<div> tag for everything, this post is for you. It focuses on how you can write clean HTML code by using semantic markups and minimize the use of <div> tag. Have you ever edited someone’s templates, don’t those messy tags drive you crazy? Not only writing clean templates can benefit yourself, but your team as well. It will save you time when you have to debug and edit (particularly the large projects).

This post is a collection of some simple yet effective techniques. Read all tips over on Web Designer Wall.

Zig Ziglar is best known for his sales training programs and books. But I am loving this podcast of Inspiring Words of Encouragement from Zig Ziglar (iTunes).

I have listened to only 3 episodes so far, but they are full of practical wisdom and ideas you can implement right away. If you have read self-help books and heard other leaders, you will realize that not everything is new. Truth is that nobody can come up with something completely new on self-help anyway.

Here are some points that touched me.

• On dining table, talk only positive things from the day with your family
• Take small incremental steps regularly
• You are always in control of your life, your attitudes and your moods
• Smile when you meet someone, they will smile in return

If you listen to this podcast everyday, I can bet your confidence, relationships and performance will jump.

Ravi Malagi sent this to me and I found it worth sharing.

Don Miguel Ruiz‘s Four Agreements – code for life and personal development

Agreement 1: Be impeccable with your word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Agreement 2: Don’t take anything personally

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering

Agreement 3: Don’t make assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life

Agreement 4: Always do your best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.